Spokane 2005

So there's a good chance that when you read about our crazy weekend trip to Maine you thought "they couldn't get any crazier". Well, brace yourself. And technically, this trip occurred four months before the Maine trip, so I guess you could say this trip was our "warm-up". Although with one big difference:

This time, we had a crew.

Quick backstory: for the first time in school history, our men's soccer team was competing in the Sweet Sixteen of the National Tournament. After Steve, Kelly (far right and far left in the picture, respectively), and I made a last-minute trip out to Ohio to watch the team play in their first round games, we decided it was only right to head out to Spokane, Washington, to watch them compete in the Sweet Sixteen (to be fair--Steve was currently playing on the men's JV team and Kelly--a teammate of mine--was currently dating one of the men's players). When our friend Amanda (wrapped in the blue blanket) found out we were planning to go, she wanted to come as well (she was also a teammate of mine who was dating a player on the men's team--there was a lot of inter-team dating that occurred).

Unfortunately, none of us had a car that was suitable to make the cross-country trip. Enter Darrell, my boyfriend of only one month at the time, and a proud owner of a Saturn station wagon. The perfect vehicle for our journey. And with (surprisingly little) convincing, Darrell was on board to join us.

Obligatory scenery shot driving through Idaho

I know that in my Maine post I provided a handful of ideas to help pass the time on road trips, but I've got a few more road trip suggestions, especially for when you are traveling with a group. One of my main tips remains the same though--make sure to allot more travel time than you think you'll need (or more time than Google maps says you'll need). Between bathroom breaks and pumping gas and switching drivers (although ideally you can coordinate these to happen all at the same stop), breaks add up quickly. Plus, once you start to get a little stir crazy on the road, nothing helps break the monotony like a quick fifteen minute stop at one of the world's greatest tourist traps: Wall Drug (or really, any tourist trap would work).

A few other things to keep in mind when traveling with a group. Make an effort to split up the driving as equally as possible, but only at the comfort level of the other passengers (I won't say who, but one of our passengers only drove one hour of the 46+ hour trip. And the rest of us were totally okay with that). Also, it's always a good idea to start a "quote-sheet"--people will inevitably say stupid things after 10+ hours in a car ("I'm all over that chicken tender melt like a fat kid on cake"). Snacks are important, of course, but it's always cheaper to bring them from home than buy them on the road (a big thanks to my mom for making a run to the grocery store for us so we could minimize our stop time in Sioux Falls). Like our trip to Maine, we tried to limit our stops to when we needed to fill up with gas, but this was a little trickier with five people. Although, it's also important to pay attention to the part of the country you are driving through; turns out northern Wyoming and southern Montana are pretty desolate and we nearly didn't make it to a gas station (and the one we were able to find to stop at was pretty sketch--definitely not paved and there were more four-wheelers filling up with gas than cars. Oh, and the pumps were the old school non-digital rotary numbers). Definitely better to top off your tank while there is still some gas in it than risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

In addition to switching drivers at every stop we also took turns paying for gas so that we didn't have to deal with settling "bills" with one another when we returned back to Iowa. After the trip, however, my mom suggested that on such a road trip like this the person whose car is being used should be exempt from paying for gas since they will have to pay for the inevitable oil change and subsequent wear and tear on the car. Really wish my mom had suggested that before our trip (and I'm not just saying that because Darrell was my boyfriend; it just makes good sense).

And for a final picture--the first documented picture of Darrell and I as a couple!